The new Nursing Education, Research & Practice Center at Lehman College incorporates Solarban® 70 glass by Vitro Architectural Glass, supporting a design approach centered on daylighting, visual comfort, and high-performance building efficiency.

Located in New York, the facility is designed to enhance modern nursing education by combining research, practice, and teaching environments within a highly transparent, light-filled architectural setting. The glazing strategy plays a central role in achieving these goals, with Vitro’s Solarban 70 selected for its balance of optical clarity and solar control performance.

A triple-silver low-emissivity (low-E) glass, Solarban 70 delivers strong daylight transmission while limiting unwanted solar heat gain. The product offers a Visible Light Transmittance (VLT) of 64%, allowing generous natural daylight to penetrate deep into interior learning spaces. At the same time, it achieves a Solar Heat Gain Coefficient (SHGC) of 0.27, helping reduce cooling loads and improving overall energy performance for the building envelope.

This combination of high visible light and controlled solar gain supports the project’s broader sustainability and occupant comfort objectives. In educational environments such as simulation labs, classrooms, and collaborative research areas, daylight quality is particularly important for both usability and wellbeing. The glazing contributes to brighter interiors while maintaining thermal efficiency, reducing reliance on artificial lighting and mechanical cooling systems.

The project highlights how advanced façade materials are increasingly integral to institutional design, particularly in healthcare education settings where precision, clarity, and comfort are essential.

The Lehman College center is also set to gain national exposure through America ByDesign, a television series broadcast on CBS, which showcases innovative architecture and standout design projects across the United States. The episode featuring the project is scheduled to air on Saturday, April 25 at 9 PM EDT, highlighting how high-performance materials such as Solarban 70 are shaping the future of educational infrastructure.

All image courtesy of Vitro